Portraits Of An Evenstar
by Elelome
Summary: The story of Arwen's life, told in little ficlets.
1. Believe



	2. A Night For Dancing



	3. Climbing Trees



	4. Memories of Daeron



	5. Meeting



	6. First Kiss



	7. Destiny's Circle



	8. Farewell Forever



	9. Starlit Farewell



	10. Morning Breaks

Morning Breaks   
by [Elelome][1]   
Website: [Arwen Evenstar][2]

Why does morning *break*, I wonder, lying here against the dew-wet grass. It seems as though the morning breaking means shattering the silence of the night with the birdsong of the day. Or opening the darkness and letting the light in, perfect blue sky above. My thoughts wander wildly this morning, turn into the canopy of sunlight fading from the stars.

I believe I will go inside now, and write a poem.

In my room, I seize a pen, and an old yellowed journal that was precious in the days of my girlhood. Pages at the end are still blank, and so I open to the back, writing swiftly:

**Morning**

Does it break   
Shatter to pieces   
All rays of dark?   
(For darkness   
Spreadeth itself   
in rays, as does light)   
Or does it come   
softly, stealing quiet   
with a lover's whisper--   
"Come, sweet one!   
We must be up and gone!"?   
Or rather greet me   
Like an old friend   
"Good morning, dawn."

   [1]: mailto:elelome@yahoo.com
   [2]: http://www.geocities.com/elelome



	11. Malicious Whispers



	12. Narrow Escape



	13. Journey's End



	14. March 25th

March 25th   
by Elelome 

*** 

Her hand brushed aside a filmy curtain revealing the sunny morning, light lying soft on the grass outside. 

So the world was still beautiful and fair, not dark and cold. Good still reigned, but for how much longer? She ached to find out, to know where among all the hopes and fears of the world, her beloved stood, doing his part to fight against the Darkness, even as she was doing hers. 

Arwen felt her heart go quiet, searching for her beloved's life in the many sparks of the world. Her thought ranged away from her body, in the manner of ancient Elvish folk, as she sought for her Aragorn. 

_There!_

_And for a moment she could see him, sitting straight upon his horse, face intent as though he were deeply listening. His eyes strayed upward to where her black banner floated in the breeze, stars blazing. The light was dim around him, except for where the green elfstone shone through the mist._

The vision faded. Arwen sank into a chair next to the window, staring out into the morning. 

Today was a day of doom. It may be, she thought, that tomorrow's dawn may never come. Her hands came up to rest upon the windowsill, the effort of peace writing itself across her features. Silent there, she waited for her fate. 

*** 


	15. Journal Entry

Title: Journal Entry  
Author: Elelome (elelome@yahoo.com)  
Note: Sorry about the long delay. I've had lots of stuff happen lately. :-)  
  
****  
  
"I feel so alone," she wrote. "All my friends are finding their mates and pairing off this spring. My dear friend Enata found her childhood love of Halrand returned today. She came to me laughing at her unwitting discovery. She had overheard a conversation about herself, in which Halrand had confessed his love for her."  
  
Arwen laid the feathered quill down and placed her hands over her eyes, blocking out the last light of the sunset. She sighed, quietly. Was there never to be anyone who would love her, as Enata loved Halrand, as he loved her in return? Would she be ever the elf-maiden who did not marry?   
  
She drew her hands away from her eyes and picked up the pen again.   
  
"Is love everything?" she wrote. "Is finding a mate to be the sole goal of a elf's life, or are there other pleasures to be found? The books say that marriage is not required to be happy, but sometimes I doubt it."  
  
She shook her head, laying down the pen.   
  
"Sometimes this endless round of ceremonies seems so useless," she whispered to the night sky. "Since mother left, nothing has been the same."  
  
END  



	16. Thought

Thought   
by Elelome

The darkness of night covers my face, and yet I can see. I stretch out my hands in the dimness, feeling power flood through my body. 

I search for my love. My thought ranges out over the wide plains, yearning. On the steep trail of the mountain path I find him. The Ringbearer is with him, and the Company struggles deep through snow. Vainly I try to touch the mind of the young Elf Legolas, but fail. 

My thought becomes a vision, and I see them, snow falling around them, and more snow still to come. They will never pass the mountain, not now. A ill will is bent against them, a will I have not the strength to stand against alone. 

But I am a maiden of the house of Luthien, and if we fail in one thing, we attempt another. I let the mind of Gandalf touch mine, a power far greater than my own, for he is a Maia, immortal made before time began, before Middle-earth took form and substance. 

"Not all wills in this storm bode ill for you, Mithrandir," I say to him. 

He acknowledges my thought with a nod, and I speak on. "The mountain is angered at the power of the Ring, and fearful. I beg of you, lead the Company away, before Caradhras attempts yet another assault." 

"Where else is there to go?" he says to me as his shoulders slump. 

"That name both of us know," I say, for we spoke of it long when the Company was yet at Imladris. 

He sighs. "Would you and your Aragorn send me to my death, lady?" 

"No," I answer, suddenly seeing him clothed in white, alive and strong and powerful. "To your life, Mithrandir. To your life." 

The connection snaps and I reel back, gasping. And I know that I will never see the Gandalf I once knew again. Change is come, and the worlds taste bittersweet to my tongue. 

END 


	17. Notes on Portraits of An Evenstar

**Notes on "Portraits of An Evenstar"**   
by [Elelome][1]

**What Are The Portraits?**

"Portraits" is what it sounds like, a series of "snapshots" in Arwen Evenstar's life. They come from all parts of her life, beginning, middle, and end. They can be from anyone's point of view. They are not a single ongoing work, they are a bunch of little ficlets all in the same "universe." There is an undetermined number of them, and no end in sight.

* * *

**Why the Portraits?**

Because I can't stand what they're going to do to the character of Arwen in the movies? Because I'm inspired to write them? Because I adore Arwen? Because it's a childhood dream to write these?

Well, pretty much all of the above. I want people to come here after seeing the movie, and say, "Oh, Arwen wasn't some Xena-type warrior-princess, she was just a girl." Or I want people who have just read the books to come here and say "Oh, Arwen wasn't some high-and-mighty-elf-princess-following-in-the-footsteps-of-Luthien, she was just a girl."

Because she was. Her life is either glorified or reduced by the masses. I want to treat her as a Elven-human, a woman. One who fell in love, but also into infatuation, one who failed and triumphed, who had secret griefs and hopes and fears and longings.

Because that's who she _really_ was.

* * *

**Archiving Info:**

Want to archive my "Portraits?" Good, you can. But I do have a few guidelines you must follow.

1. [Email me][1] to tell me you are archiving them and where. This is a courteous thing to do, and if I find my work on your site and have received no email from you, I probably will ask you to take them down.

2. Your site, the place you will archive them, must have something to do with Tolkien or fanfiction (preferably both).

3. You must have an email link to me and a link to my website on every page with a "Portrait" on it. The easiest way to do this is to go to my "Portraits," save them as HTML documents, and customize them with your own graphics, leaving the main text alone.

4. Each Portrait must be separate, on its own page.

* * *

And that's all! If you have any questions about either archiving or this series in general, please contact me. I'd love to hear from you!

I'll be working on a timeline of the Portraits eventually, but for now you can just guess what years of Arwen's life they happen in.

   [1]: mailto:elelome@yahoo.com



End file.
